A furious transatlantic row has erupted over quotes that were attributed to a retired Italian bishop, which suggested that Jews were behind the current criticism of the Catholic church’s record on tackling clerical sex abuse.

A website quoted Giacomo Babini, the emeritus bishop of Grosseto, as saying he believed a “Zionist attack” was behind the criticism, considering how “powerful and refined” the criticism is.

The comments, which have been denied by the bishop, follow a series of statements from Catholic churchmen alleging the existence of plots to weaken the church and Pope Benedict XVI.

Allegedly speaking to the Catholic website Pontifex, Babini, 81, was quoted as saying: “They do not want the church, they are its natural enemies. Deep down, historically speaking, the Jews are God killers.”

Babini is denying ever having said this, so we shall see whether the website Pontifex can prove he in fact did say this – but I would not be surprised if Babini said what a lot of other bishops are thinking.

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What kind of evidence would lead a reasonable person to accept the claim that “a lot of other bishops are thinking” that “deep down … Jews are God killers”?

Is “a lot” to be taken absolutely or as proportionate to the total episcopate? Is “a lot” to be taken in the sense that it would be reasonable to consider someone an anti-Semite if all we were to know about him is that he is a Catholic bishop?

Is it not better just to name anti-Semitic bishops based on the evidence, rather than to stigmatize all bishops, each of whom belongs to a class of which it is alleged to be true that “a lot” are anti-Semitic? Is the idea here that we should place that stigma upon them anyway in order to dispose them toward patrolling their own ranks? And even if that would work, would it be just?

adminApril 12, 2010 @ 1:19 pm

If you look at John Allen’s column from 2002, he was disturbed by the amount of anti-Semitism among European Catholics. Older bishops were raised in the milieu in which the Freemasons and Jews were viewed as enemies of a Christian society. I doubt that Babini is unique in still thinking this.
An Irish-American friend informed me that in his neighborhood the common term for Jews was “Christ-killers,” as in, “Go down to the Christ-killer’s store and get a quart of milk.”

Tony de New YorkApril 12, 2010 @ 6:02 pm

Sad, very sad.

As a hispanic i never was taught things like that.

Thx be to G-D.

James Dominic JamesApril 12, 2010 @ 8:12 pm

Thanks for the follow-up. I guess owing to the nature of the thing, the evidence has to be anecdotal. If you gave these bishops anonymous surveys to complete, maybe they’d still conceal their views, knowing the results might make the episcopate look bad. It’s frustrating not to have better data when evaluating how representative +Babini might be, that is, provided he’s been quoted accurately.

Mere CatholicApril 13, 2010 @ 7:59 am

One of my favorite people in life is a man who taught me high school Latin. He is a very well-educated man and faithful Catholic of Italian heritage. He has a strong personal faith which gives expression through various works of charity. He is also one of those men who would be quick to see a Jewish conspirancy behind most things. It is a terrible thing but there are too many people who are willing to assign collective guilt to the Jewish people. I have high regard for the Latin Mass but I do think that week after week of hearing about the “faithless Jews” did form anti-semitic views even in the most sensible and educated persons.

James Dominic JamesApril 13, 2010 @ 9:26 pm

Mere Catholic,

We might be thinking of different things, but I believe the “perfidious” prayer made its appearance only once a year at Good Friday rather than week after week. That said, I guess it could still have been formative to some degree.

Joseph D'HippolitoApril 14, 2010 @ 12:40 pm

You know what the joke in all this is? The notion of a priesthood offering a sacrifice for sin — which is what priests do during the Eucharist — comes directly out of the OT! In fact, Christ’s entire life, death, resurrection and ascention not only fulfills OT prophecies but also is the ultimate offering for sin. Yet Babini — or, should I say, Bambini — has the audacity to maintain his anachronistic and evil attitudes in the face of this knowledge?

Oriana Fallaci (PBUH) said it best: Without the Jew Jesus, a lot of the vaticanisti wouldn’t have jobs! Somebody should tell that old man that Christ was a Jew.

Mere CatholicApril 14, 2010 @ 6:04 pm

No, James, you’re correct. I erred in writing week after week. I have a soft spot for the liturgy in Latin and perhaps I am too quick in assigning blame to the “old” Mass rather than to the deep seated cultural views of anti-semitism in many European nations. Perhaps it merely reinforced existing prejudices, yet that too is troubling.